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INUIT INFANTICIDE

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“. . . migrations, forced upon . . .(the Inuit). . . during the long, severe winter, involve the transportation of the entire household. Utensils, bedding, tools, weapons, furs, hides, garments and fishing gear must be hauled on the sled or carried on the back. If there should be a new baby in the family, the mother must decide whether or not the pack she must carry is more important than the infant. In most cases the decision is made in favor of the pack. Especially is this true if the infant is a female.” (Garber 1947:100)

“Often the parents are unwilling to rear their children, for a baby involves much hardship to the mother, especially in the summer when all the household good are packed on the back. The child is only an additional burden to the mother up to the age when it can make a long day’s journey on its own feet. Frequently the parents settle the problem by simply suffocating their baby and throwing it away.” (Jenness 1913-1918:165-166)

Kadjak and Iksivalitak were starving on their way to Pelly Bay. They were dragging their sled and were so weak that they could hardly pull anymore. Their adopted son Pupupuk, about 8 years old, could not walk anymore; so they abandoned him, still alive.

Apitok was starving with her husband and little daughter. The hunter could not follow anymore and fell behind. Then Apitok, dragging a little led with the girl in it, joined Itoriksak’s family, also on the move. Itoriksak asked Apitok to kill the girl, which she did, although with some hesitation.

“Once when there was a famine Nagtak gave birth to a child, while people lay around her dying of hunger. What did that child want here? How could it live when its mother who should give it life was herself dried up and starving? So she strangled it and allowed it to freeze and later on ate it.” (Rasmussen 1931:138, as told to him by the shaman, Samik)

“Infanticide is common among them, both before and after birth. . . . they say they do not want and cannot support so many daughters. Other women do not like the care and trouble of children, and destroy them for that reason. The usual method is to take the child out, stuff its mouth full of grass, and desert it.” (Dall 1870:139)

“Female infanticide is common among some of the tribes, particularly the Mahlemute and those of the Yukon. Many Indian mothers to save their daughters from their own wretched lives, take them out into the woods, stuff grass in their mouths and leave them to die.” (Jackson 1880:115)

Orpingalik’s 10 daughters were killed under his orders. None of these daughters were allowed to live. When the last daughter was born, the fish catch was very good when the news of her birth reached him. He finished his spearing and returned to the tent, allowing the girl to live. “It was thus owing to his good mood at that moment that the girl owes her happy existence.” (paraphrased from Van de Velde 1954:6)

“Famine and starvation, however, are not the only causes leading to infanticide. Occasionally, it happens that a fickle, mentally deficient woman will give birth to a baby she does not want. . . . I have in mind the case of an Inuit mother . . . who killed her baby and fed it to the dogs.” (Garber 1947:98-99)

“Among the Inuits and Utes of Alaska, I have found both drowning and freezing the modus operandi for the destruction of unwanted children. . . . On one occasion, I had departed from the village of Sfanagamute with my dog team, directing my course toward Nichtmute, the next colony. . . . I came upon an infant lying among the snow-covered hummocks near the trail. Had I not possessed a well-trained lead dog, the infant would have been torn to shreds in less time than it takes to tell it. . . . I picked up the baby and discovered that its body was still warm with life. After cleaning the grass from its mouth with my fingers, I wrapped it in furs, placed it on my sled, turned the dogs about, and headed back to the village I had just left. . . . When the baby’s mother was brought to me, I gave the child into her arms and told her to care for it and raise it. The mother’s apparent happiness at the recovery of her baby that she had put out to die convinced me that she had resorted to infanticide under stress of some economic necessity, perhaps starvation, widowhood, or illegitimacy. My subsequent inquiry brought to light that famine and starvation had prompted the deed.” (Garber 1947:99)

“Physical defects in newborn babies and multiple births often force the Eskimo mother to resort to infanticide. If a child is born physically deformed, it rarely survives the day of its birth. . . . mothers of deformed children possess a distinct hate for their offspring and have not the least hesitancy in the matter of their destruction. During my long and intimate life with the western Eskimo, I found only two cases of living deformed children.” (Garber 1947:99)

“. . . one rarely, if ever, finds living twins among the Eskimo. Even though they do exist it is very difficult to identify them because they are usually separated at the time of their birth.” (Garber 1947:100)

“When twins are born, one at least must either be killed or given away, for an Eskimo woman cannot possibly rear both children at the same time. If one is a boy and the other a girl, it is invariable the girl that is made the victim. Boys, in fact, are seldom exposed, for they will support their parents when they grow up.” (Jenness 1913-1918:166)

“In some of the cases I have observed the mother has exhibited a pronounced love for her baby but had to squelch her affection in order that the older members of her family might continue their existence. On the other hand, some mothers have demonstrated a marked hardness and indifference towards the necessity of destroying their babies.” (Garber 1947:100)

“I knew a married man who had committed adultury with his stepdaughter. A child was born, and the father, having an intense dread of the penalty he might have to pay under the white man’s civil laws, drowned the infant in the river.” (Garber 1947:100)

Grandmothers too seemed to be in a favored position to determine the fate of a newborn. The elderly female in the extended family was considered the “food boss” in the igloo. No one could take any food without her permission. Old Nalungiaq told Rasmussen after stating her views on infanticide, “If my daughter Quertiliq had a girl child I would strangle it at once. If I did not, I think I would be a bad mother.” (Rasmussen 1931:140)